Chapter 142: Looper

"Man…this is great boss!" one gang member stated.

"I'm just that good," Kazo said with a smug on his face.

"There…is just so many of them."

"Keep it up guys…we been backed up for months of our…fun activities," the gang leader stated.

The other members chuckled and continued their perceived explicit behavior in the dense fog. Not too far away from the where the gang was standing; two individuals were walking backwards and sidestepping. They were being followed by a dark silhouette with crimson irises that could pierce the dense fog several feet away. It hovered above the ground and kept the same distance between itself and the two students.

"…Ikari…how do we evade it?" Ayanami whispered keeping her hands on his back and following his movements.

"…other than keeping our distance…I am not confident we can evade it in this…mist."

Both only focused on black figure instead of where they were going. A bench suddenly came behind them and they were about to walk into it. Without stopping, he held out his left arm and veered to the right. The action prevented Ayanami from getting sandwiched between him and the bench. Not thinking about how he knew, the First Child just focused on keeping her eyes on the stalker figure. The dark silhouette blinked slowly and continued to follow their pathway.

"Ikari dropped a smoke bomb?" Kaworu asked with a confused expression.

"Yep," Asuka stated with her arms folded across her chest.

"…why?"

"I don't know why. We saw him confronting Kazo and his gang then dropped it on the ground. After that, more went off around the school."

"…" the Sixth Child said blinking still having a confused face. "Major Katsuragi…is Ikari known for terrorist activity?"

"No," Misato stated looking at the fog in deep thought. "He never used a smoke screen before…but…this isn't smoke."

"It felt more like a mist to me," the Second Child stated frowning. "Why the hell is it lingering? There is a wind passing through the school all the time given its location. It should have been blown away already."

"…" Kaworu stated not choosing to answer. Instead, he tried searching through the fog to detect who was down there. Getting too much interference, he stopped.

'This feels like …but it isn't,' he thought clenching his hands into fists slightly. His mind was turning more from trying to comprehend what was happening and occurring.

'…I…don't understand…why can't I detect them or Bardiel for that matter…also…' the Sixth Child thought staring and listening to the air. 'There is no siren…so it can't be Bardiel or any other Angel…this is…irritating.'

Heading up the incline road to the school's parking lot, a police patrol car slowed down when it entered the area. Both officers in the car blinked and looked at the entrance and other buildings of the school. Turning into a middle section parking space, the car stopped and was turned off. Stepping out, both moved their hats up a little looking bewildered.

"Have you seen anything like this?"

"Other than the smoke bombs that went off during training and during field practice...no," one of the officers said scratching his head. "I've never seen fog just hover in place especially when there is a gentle wind blowing through."

"Well let's go see closer."

"I don't know man…getting bad jujus from looking at it."

"You and your superstitious paranoia."

"I'm telling you man. That shit is real."

On the other side of the school, Rayne slowed down from running. Huffing and puffing, she bent forward placing her hands on her knees.

"Hah…I should of…hah…taken a cab," she muttered to herself before standing up straight. Walking forward, she saw how big the smoke cloud was up close.

'…strange…' she thought continuing to walk forward.

Getting closer to the stair entrance into the campus ground, she could barely see the other buildings. Shaking her head, she headed up the stairs. The closer she got to the dense fog, the more her insides started to tighten. Getting only 2/3rds of the way up, she stopped.

'…this feels…familiar,' she pondered looking at her arms. Goosebumps were appearing on them. Taking another step closer, more appeared. Giving a small frown, she looked back at the massive cloud that clung around the campus.

'…a creepy familiar…'

All the students that were inside the classrooms were startled that they could barely see the desks around them. Though they could hear others nearby and see blurred images of them, it didn't dampen their growing apprehension. About to get up and move around, all of them froze in place. Turning their attention to their homeroom doors, they began slowly closing by themselves. Surprised from hearing the door lock itself, the students nearest to them immediately got up and backed away quickly.

Others were about to ask them why they were moving away when they heard them shush them. Hearing their frightened voices, they told them all to be quiet. As if on cue, a dark silhouette slowly came into view of the right side door window. Despite how dense the fog was, the blurry figure was seen by all the students. Most became silent and still watching the dark figure slowly come to be center of the rear door. Trying the handle to the door, the lock on it kept it closed and made a soft rattle. Everyone felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end hearing a soft hiss followed by a monstrous, deep haggard breath.

All the students in the classroom murmured quietly to one another as some were getting more scared. Seeing the dark figure slowly hover away from the door window, it appeared instantly at the other. Instead of the soft approach, it tried opening the door harder several times. The lock held as the door rattled louder. It made the dark figure hiss louder followed by incoherent speech.

"…!?" Hikari stated with fear. She had backed up to be standing still near Rana's desk. Slowly turning toward her, the female twin was staring the dark figure down. Going within her personal space, the Class Rep whispered nervously.

"…w-w-what is that…t-thing?"

"…" she said blinking but keeping a blank expression. Watching the figure at the door slowly hover back to the other door, it started making clawing sounds against the wall. It put more students on edge. Blinking again, she whispered back quietly while not moving.

"…I…don't...know…"

The students that were outside, including the faculty, suddenly felt like they came out of a dream. Blinking, many looked around themselves and started becoming scared. Everywhere they looked, they were lost in a dense fog of gray. Calling out, other students and staff responded nearby. Moving around a little bit, most stopped and sat on the ground from not being able to see. About to ask others what happened, there was a distant shout. Another one came followed by another one. Before anyone could speak out loud, all saw a dark figure materialize in front of them individually.

'##$SO#$%#MANY#$^THINGS#$#$%#$TO#$!' it said maliciously through much static and interference. All of the students' and staff's vision started to turn into a glitching haze of red. As the dark figure came closer to them, the environment started shaking violently.

"Hey," Asuka stated standing up. "The fog is retreating."

"…yeah…" Misato said standing up as well as Kaworu. The roof's ground slowly became clear of any of the gray cloud hovering on it. Seeing the entire cloud coverage around the campus slowly started to move, it was lowering. All three climbed down and headed toward the handrails.

"This is so weird," the redhead said looking at the enormous cloud. "I've heard of micro climates, but this takes the cake."

"I remember in college that some were capable of creating their own weather…but this seems too improbable to have that much control. Especially if Shinji had this fog in such a small container."

"Where did that idiot get that thing anyhow?"

"Black market maybe?" Misato stated still feeling apprehensive of the retreating fog.

'…why is it retreating?' Kaworu though putting his hands on the railing. Staring hard at the cloud, it did not reveal answers.

'Who is doing this? Why? What for? How is it doing this?…wait…the prototype is nearby…is she…no…she can't…I don't understand,' he thought griping the hand railing harder.

When the mist started retreating for the upper levels of buildings, it pulled out from classrooms too. All the students and faculty began to come around when the mist fully went away. Everyone looked frightened, sick, or disturbed from what they witnessed. All heard the classroom doors unlock at the same time. Thinking the dark figure would come around again, the entrance doors slid slowly open. Waiting in apprehension, nothing occurred.

Seeing the fog slowly get lower and lower, only some students felt relief. Strangely, all the students were hearing sounds coming from outside. Only some of them dared to walk outside. The ones waiting in the classroom watched teens head to the outside walkway. Reaching it and seeing others do the same, those students treaded carefully to the handrail. Once there, they peered over to see what and where the sounds were coming from.

"H-Hey…the whole fog is sinking," one of the policemen stated and pointed.

"I'm telling you man, this is bad juju written all over it."

"Come on and get your flashlight out," he said walking over to the walkway into the school ground. With his partner following, both reached the fog. Seeing it up close look just like a thick fog, they reached out and touched it.

"Feels like a dense fog," he said. Both turned on their flashlight and slowly walked into the sinking cloud mass.

"…" Rayne said feeling the intensity of the eeriness go down. The goosebumps on her arms slowly faded. Walking slowly up to the top of the steps, she was standing in front of the massive fog. Taking a deep breath in and out, she proceeded forward. Seeing that it was like being in a dense mist, she could only make out what was a couple of feet in front of her. Anywhere further than that, she could not make out shapes.

'…now…to find where the epicenter is…or the cause of this is,' she thought continuing forward. Looking up the fog was slowly clearing up above her head. Feeling an icy chill and evil aura around her, she recognized it and side jump to her right. Looking back at where she was, a dark silhouette was standing there.

'…how and why is it here…' Rayne thought seeing it slowly turn toward her and hover slowly in her direction.

Immediately backing up, she resisted any urge to look away to see where she was going. Watching the fog ceiling level hit the top of the levitating figure's head, it slowly faded away. Not feeling relieved or safe, she kept staring in the same direction. When the ceiling slowly passed her head and continued down, she let out a slow breath.

When the fog was at chest level, she and the police officers could see students in the courtyard. Changing toward that direction, they noticed a group of male students in a circle making movements of some kind. The closer they got to the courtyard area, their apprehension from before seemed to linger.

'The fog is lowering,' Ayanami thought. She continued to keep the same distance away from the following dark silhouette. Seeing the massive gray cloud lower to where the figure's head was, it faded away. A small amount of relief came to her from seeing that. However, her apprehension since being in the fog remained still. About to ask him if it went away completely, she felt something immediately wrong.

"…!?" she said.

Pushing away from his back and leaping backwards, she saw several black-red tentacles pierce out from his body. They went behind him and tried grabbing what was there. Missing, they slithered in the air and directed their ends at her. Before she could talk, a large black-red eye appeared in the center of the person's back. Feeling alarmed from what it signified, she heard an evil amusing chuckle.

'#$%#$g...O...o...D...#$#$#gggiiiiirrrrrllllllll$%#' it said before the body and tentacles faded away.

'…' Ayanami thought breathing a little faster.

The realization of who she was holding onto made her shiver. Seeing the ceiling of the fog lower below her chin, she removed the gas mask. Despite the smell of water vapor in the air, she could recognize the aura from the fog. Confused, she shook her head and began looking around. Seeing many students sitting down, she heard movements behind her.

When all of the fog had vanished, the rest of the students in the courtyard could be seen. About half of them were sitting while the other half were lying on the ground. Each one of them was holding themselves and looked disturbed. Some were more rattled than others as others completely balled themselves up tightly. Hearing voices and sounds come from a place in the courtyard, they heard gasps.

"…" Rei said turning toward where the gang members were. Looking down on the ground, a male student was lying face down. Seeing the amount of crimson all around him, her eyes widen. Without a second thought, she ran toward him.

"…" Kaworu said looking down at the scene below. Surprised, he felt a sharp pull in his chest.

"…oh god…no," Misato said. Turning around, she ran toward the roof door. Both Asuka and Kaworu followed her.

As people started congregating toward the where the person was lying, they were startled. Kazo and his gang members had their pants down and mimicked that they were fornicating. While doing that, each had a weapon in their hand with good amounts of blood on them. About a few feet in front of them was a male student lying face down. The students from walkways and close by on the ground could see that he was all bloody. A growing pool of red was expanding out of him.

'Please no,' Rei said slowing down to a stop. Kneeling down beside the male student, she hoped hard that it was not who she thought it was. With shaking hands and finding an unstained spot, she slowly rolled the person onto his back. Seeing the face and hearing nearby students gasp, she became very frightened.

"…huh…what the…" Kazo said after blinking.

All the sudden, the women they thought they were doing vanished. A strange sense of feeling like nothing was happening came over him. Looking at the other guys, they had the same look too of being bewildered and confused. Seeing that their pants were down, they pulled them up. Noticing their weapons were bloody, they felt an audience around them. Turning, all flinched from seeing students form a half-pipe circle around them. Even students from walkways above were looking down at them.

"…uh…Kazo…" one gang member state tapping his shoulder. Turning to him, he pointed with worried look on his eyes.

"I think…we hit him too hard."

"…!?" the gang leader and other members said.

All saw a male student look like a bloody pulp. His eyes were closed and didn't appear to breathing. Watching the First Child slowly cradle him in her arms, she began to repeat his name. The police officers and Rayne heard someone getting louder and louder. A female was repeating a person's name in which made the ex-officer's eyes widen. Rushing over to the growing group of students, she pushed her way through. Reaching the middle, she recognized the student that looked like a bloody mess.

'…what…no…who…why…' Rayne thought too shocked to react to the police officers that reached the crowd and were getting to the middle.

"Hey…is everyone…"

"Holy shit," one officer said looking at the two students that were on the ground. The other policeman looked and became alarmed.

All the sudden, a double door burst open. The crowd blinked and looked at the direction of the sound. Rayne saw the Major come out of a nearby building. She was followed by two Eva pilots as they rushed over. Getting through the crowd, Misato immediately kneeled down to where Rei was.

"…" she said looking at the male student.

It was the Third Child covering in a pool of his own blood. Fresh lacerations covered his body and stained his clothes heavily. Looking at his face, he had a relaxed look on his face. He wasn't breathing. Looking up at the First Child, she immediately winced from the sight. With a lost look on her face, Rei held him in her arms as crimson slowly stained her. She began whispering his name over and over again as tears were rolling down her face.

"…" Rayne said feeling herself become angry. Turning toward the group of upperclassmen with weapons, all of them looked odd. The more she stared, the more they seemed stiff like statues. Seeing the two officers walk closer to the boys, both of them seemed rattled.

"…what the hell…is going on?" one asked looking closer and becoming disgusted. "…god damn…"

"…h-hey…what's-!?" the Fifth Child started to say when the other officer went to a bush and threw up.

Startled, she walked closer and inspected the gang members. Feeling her eyes widen, all of them were impaled from the ground. The leader had his mouth open. It showed the wooden stake had gone up and through his neck. Seeing something moving in there, she paled and turned away disgusted. The stake was crawling with maggots as they began to dig into the inside of his mouth.

"…Ikari…" Ayanami said curling her head down and touched the male pilot's head.

"…r…u…n…" he said in a barely audible whisper.

"…?" she said blinking a couple of times. Looking down at his blood coated lips, she saw it moving slowly. Moving her ear toward his mouth, he breathed shallowly again.

"…r…u…n…a…W…a…Y…"

'Strange,' Asuka thought blinking and scanning at all the faces around.

'Where is his sister at a time like this?"

"…I-Ikari?" the First Child asked quietly feeling all the hairs on her body stand on end.

"…I…c…A…n…'…T…nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn"

'Something is not right,' Kaworu thought feeling the familiar eerie atmosphere invade the surroundings. Glancing around, all the students on the walkways were staring with wide eyes and smiles.

"…i-i-i-i-i-m-m-m-m-m-m#$^#%$SSSSOOOOORRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!"

With a vicious whiplash, the Third Child's body levitated a couple of feet and bent in half. Suddenly letting out a blood lurching scream, the entire environment quickly decayed into rot. Everyone's vision started glitching harshly as multiple environments and people were exploding in and out. The screaming intensified as if nails were scratching against a chalkboard through a megaphone. Sounds of bones breaking, blood splattering pops, and snapping of cartilages echoed loudly and surrounded them.

Every student, faculty staffer, and officials felt a sharp stab in their gut. Blinking and looking down, black-red tentacles had pierced through their skin. Terror gripped them from feeling the clammy, slimy, and cold appendage wiggle and worm its way into them more. About to scream, they couldn't open their mouth. Looking down with horror on their faces, each of their lips was stitched shut. Panic started gripping everyone until all of their eyes were forced to look back at where the Third Child's contorted body was.

It had morphed into a black amorphous figure with black and red blood dripping from it. Seeing its image glitch followed by their vision to go into static for a second, no sound was heard. Feeling like they were in a vacuum, all of them could feel a rapidly beating pulse through the tentacles. It was rapid and started making their vitals skyrocket.

'AREYOUCURIOUS?!'

'DON'TYOUKNOW!?'

'LET'SALLBECOMEONE!'

'ANDSHAREALLTHEMEMORIES!'

'SUCCUMB#$%#$GIVEIN#$%#$LETGO#$%#$LETMESHOWYOUTHEENLIGHTMENT...OOOOFFF#$#$AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' the dark clone said before endlessly screaming higher and higher.

When its tone reached a high pitched frequency, the world around everyone started to fracture heavily. Seeing the black amorphous shake violently hard, it exploded. A red and rapidly expanding spherical shockwave blasted everything. Layers of their skin ripped off viciously before their organs and bones became incinerated. The last conscious thought everyone recognized was a deep monstrous chuckle in slow motion.

"NO!"

The word seemed to echo loudly throughout many households in the morning. Thousands upon thousands of homes turned on lights as members of the household came rushing to the individuals that suddenly shouted. Almost all of them were students and school staffers who had woken up in fright and sweating all over. After minutes past by with people and parents reassuring them that it was only a bad dream, they began to calm down. For a small portion of them, they stated about staying home for the day fearing of seeing a certain individual at school.

"…!?" Misato said trying to calm down.

'…that…all that…was a dream!?' she thought looking around where she was. Seeing it was her room, she placed her hands over her face and took a deep breath in.

'…thank god…' the Major thought. She flinched when she heard knocking on her door.

"Major?"

"…Rei…is that you?" the lavender haired woman stated.

"Yes…are you-" the First Child asked when the door slid open quickly. Seeing the Major look rattled, she blinked in surprise when hands were placed on her shoulders.

"…oh…thank god you are fine."

"…what…do you mean?"

"It's nothing. It's nothing," Misato said letting go and exhaling in relief. "Just a bad nightmare."

"…I see…I can understand," Rei said with a small nod and slow blink.

"…hey…are you alright? You got some bags under your eyes."

"…I…" Ayanami said blinking a couple of times. "Did not get much sleep last night."

"Ooo…yeah, that would do it. Is it that time to go to school already?" Misato asked seeing her ward already dressed in her school uniform.

"It is a little early than my usual leave time."

"Oh…okay. Can never be too early in preparing. Right?"

"…yes…" she said tilting her head.

"I'll be fine, don't worry. Just have a good day at school."

"Yes Major," Ayanami said. Moving her head back straight, she nodded before leaving.

'I just need to shake it off regardless of how vivid that dream felt,' Misato said calming down. 'Well, today is the day to go get Asuka. I wonder how she will be.'

By the time Ayanami exited the front door of the apartment, both Shinji and Rana were walking down the walkway toward her. Exchanging pleasantries, they proceeded on their way to school. Waiting at the intersection, Kaworu was in deep thought.

'All of that…was from…my subconscious?' he thought still bewildered from the dream he had. '…I was told dreams were a mixture of images from the past as well as images seen from the present…why would I see something of a future that couldn't possibly happen…I don't understand.'

'Regardless,' he thought shaking his head. Looking down the sidewalk, he saw the three students he was waiting for walking toward him. Instead of waiting for them, he walked toward them with a small smile on his face. Thinking about what he did last night, he wondered how the Third Child would react.

"Morning everyone," he said with a hand on his hip.

"Morning Mr. Kaworu. How are you?" Shinji stated with a stoic expression and tone.

"I am well. How are you? Did you get any sleep last night?" he asked with his friendly smile.

"…I am adequate…" the male pilot responded and blinked slowly. "I did not get much sleep last night sir."

"Oh? Any particular why?" the Sixth Child asked getting closer to the male pilot. Unlike last time, the Third Child kept staring back with a blank facial expression.

"…to my recall Mr. Kaworu…I was not able to relax."

"Oh yeah?" he said. Wanting to give a bigger smile, he saw both Rana and Rei look either away or down at the ground. Both of them had small smiles with the female twin blushing a little.

"Other than that…I do not appreciate you watching me while I was sleeping in my room Mr. Kaworu."

"What!?" Rana stated with surprise. It caused Rei to look surprised as well.

'…it was amusing the first time…this time…I don't find it amusing,' Kaworu thought blinking. All the sudden, he saw the female twin in front of him.

"…hey…"

"I know, I know…" the Sixth Child said put his hands up and turning around. Putting his hands behind his head, he began walking away.

"…huh…?" Rana stated looking at him confused. Turning back to Shinji and Rei, both turned to her and just blinked.

"Is what that guy said true Shinji?"

"…yes…" he said slowly blinking. "I'm not too sure how he was able to get into the apartment and into my room."

"Damn him," she said turning around. "Hey! Come back here! I got a serious bone to pick with you!"

"…" both said watching the female twin walk quickly to catch up with the distracted Sixth Child. Following her, both Shinji and Rei conversed about what was discussed earlier this morning. When the four reached the school gate, there was no one standing there. Heading into the school grounds, all four saw a noticeable difference from yesterday.

"Hey…where is everybody?" Rana asked surprised. "It is like night and day from how everyone was yesterday."

"Indeed," the Third Child stated continuing toward their homeroom.

'…this has to be more than a coincidence…' Kaworu thought. Seeing the significantly less amount of students or even couples out and about made him uneasy. Going up the stairs to their classroom, it was empty. Putting their things at their desks, they sat at the front together and waited till class started.

By the time school was getting closer to start, there were a couple of students that were absent. However, there was an obvious sign that some students were giving. A few students were more nervous and leery about being near the Third Child. Kaworu was becoming frustrated from the conflicting expressions of students. Rei, Rana, and the Class Rep was not eyeing him with apprehension on their faces. Classes started and went on without much of an issue.

When Misato went to NERV's medical facility to pick up Asuka, everything was déjà vu. The conversations, the body language, and demands to go to the same place were the same as the dream. Even the one where to go to school a visit was requested at the same bistro. Agreeing to taking her, she decided to get there a little quicker than normal.

The day for the police department went on the same way; however, a handful of officers seemed to double take everything. Nami was in her office when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said and saw the chief walk in. "Hey. What's up?"

"…" he said and pointed at her. "Did you have a weird dream last night per chance?"

"…yes…more of a vivid surreal one. Why?"

"Is everything up to this point identical to what occurred to in the dream?"

"…" Nami said blinking in surprise. "…yeah…kind of like a déjà vu affect."

"But…we never had this conversation in the dream, right?"

"That's true. I don't recall us talking about our dream last night."

"No calls about a weird fog over the school. Yes?"

"…no…you are stating things that I saw in my dream."

"…" Ryu said pinching his nose. About to say something, his cell phone ringed. Answering it, the call was short and quick. Ending it and putting the phone back in his pocket, he turned around and went back into his office. Watching him, he went to his window and grabbed his binoculars.

"…no…" she said getting out of her seat and headed toward his office. Getting next to him and looking out his window, there was no fog or smoke cloud over the school. About to sign in relief, he spoke.

"That was Rayne…she said she will go to the school to see if smoke bombs were planted."

"Are you going to send one patrol car out with her?"

"It is a thought…but no. I'm not that superstitious by any means...but that dream last night is bothering me."

When the lunch period sounded at school, a large majority of students closed their eyes and fidgeted. Waiting a couple of seconds, they heard no students surrounding them or anyone moving. In the classroom with the Eva pilots, Kaworu watched everyone carefully. The only students that stood up were Shinji, Rana, and Rei. Watching them, the other students slowly opened their eyes and looked around themselves. They saw the Eva pilots exit the classroom and caused them to exhale a breath they were holding.

'…' Kaworu thought still not sure that something might happen. Standing up, he noticed that the Third Child's backpack was missing. He headed for the rooftop to observe and locate where the Eva pilots were going.

"Why is everyone acting strange all the sudden?" Rana asked as she walked with Shinji and Ayanami. All of them could see frightened eyes staring at them in the distance.

"That is a good question Miss Rana," he said continuing to walk.

Adjusting his backpack, he headed toward an area that was not in the courtyard. Finding a bench that was near a building corner, the group of three sat down. About to begin eating lunch, both Rana and Rei scooted closer to him. Rana was about to engage in her plan when all three noticed a familiar face walking toward them. It was the Class Rep and she was holding her lunch box.

"Greetings Miss Horaki," he said with a nod followed by the others nodding toward her.

"Hi guys…do you mind if I join you three?" she asked looking a little uncomfortable.

"Is something the matter?" Rana asked noticing her body language.

"…everyone…is acting weirder than yesterday. It made me feel uncomfortable eating in our homeroom."

"Understandable," Rei stated with a head nod. Offer the space next to her, the Class Rep smiled and gave a small bow. Sitting down, they started to eat their lunch.

"By the way Ikari, why did you bring your backpack?"

"…" he said swallowing what food he had in his mouth. Setting the bento aside a little, he reached for his backpack.

"If you are curious, I do not mind showing."